


No Longer Defeated

by Biekewieke



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Battle, Battlefield, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), ForceSkype, Internal Conflict
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 22:00:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14506365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biekewieke/pseuds/Biekewieke
Summary: Two armies, both alike in dignity,In fair Dantooine, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes military hands unclean.From forth the loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers stake their life;Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their determination bury their party's strife.The fearful passage of their Force-bonded love,And the continuance of their entourage's rage,Which, but their Force sensitive leaders, nought could remove,Is now the two hours' traffic of their stage;The which if you with patient eyes attend,What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend...





	No Longer Defeated

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arwen_Evenstar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arwen_Evenstar/gifts).



> Written as part of the Reylo Fanfic Recs 'Rewrite the Stars Fest' for the following prompt given by Arwen_Evenstar:
> 
> SW canon. Kylo and Rey Force Bond one final time before THE battle between First Order and the Rebellion. Each fighting for what they believe to be the right for the Galaxy. But, where will that leave them?
> 
> Favorite quote: "Do or Do Not, there is no Try." 
> 
>  
> 
> I would love to thank my wonderful beta's:   
> The ever amazing Emma and the always angelic Angie.   
> You ladies are incredible and I am lucky to call you my friends.   
> Thank you.

The Resistance was in a frenzy.   
The First Star Destroyers were emerging from hyperspace above them, casting long shadows across the Dantooine plains, ejecting hundreds of shuttles holding squadron after squadron of Storm Troopers.   
They had been able to regroup and recruit several hundreds of new fighters, but the odds were still terribly against them.   
Rey stood at the edge of their camp with Poe at her side. A heavy sigh escaped his lips.   
“At least we won’t give up without a fight…” his voice trailed off.   
“How long do you think we have? The odds clearly aren’t in our favor. We’ll have to rely on bravado alone. I’m guessing we won’t last long. I’m betting on an hour or two, tops.”  
Rey’s eyes scanned the horizon as the first shuttles touched ground.   
Desperation laced her voice as she spoke up in a hushed tone.   
“Never tell me the odds.” She murmured.   
His chuckle of amusement sounded loud and misplaced in the morbid silence that hung over the camp.   
“I’ve heard that line before.” He said and looked at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.   
“Then you’ll also remember that the odds don’t necessarily have to be in one’s favor. Just one chance is enough…” she replied as she stared up into the pilot’s face with equal mischief.   
“Rey…” He admonished as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.   
“Don’t!” she snapped.   
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to calm her temper. It took several deep breaths, but she managed to find a semblance of equilibrium.   
She opened her eyes again, only to find Poe’s gaze staring back at her solemnly. She knew he felt the same way she did. Saw the sadness in those big brown eyes that mirrored her own.   
“Please don’t tell me to face facts. I know we’re in a bad place right now.” She continued softly.   
“But I _need_ that sparkle of hope. Even now, _especially now,_ I need to believe that there’s a chance we’ll make it.”  
She grabbed his arm and stared up at him, her eyes imploring him to see things her way.   
“Poe, please…” she begged softly.   
He sighed.   
He uncrossed his arms and pulled her close. His arms wrapped around her in the warmest embrace she’d had in a good long while. He kissed her stern and felt her return his hug as she nestled her head in the crook of his neck.   
They stood there for a moment, drawing strength from each other.   
Poe let out another deep sigh and extricated himself from their embrace.   
“I have to go see what Finn is up to and make some final adjustments on his hair-brained battle plan...” He fumbled with something shiny in his hands. He spoke gently as he continued to stare at the sparkling thing in his hands.   
“You know, Rey…” he started haltingly, “I’m happy to have you on our side. At least we’ll be the pretty bunch with you in our midst, even if we may end up on the losing end.”  
He looked up at her and smiled encouragingly.   
She recognized that look. He was putting on his game face. The cocky arrogant flyboy-façade he had built up over the years.   
“We’ll figure out a way.” He said confidently.   
“Take a few more moments for yourself. You’ll need them.” He said and winked with a broad smile. He saluted her and left.   
Rey walked over to the Falcon and boarded. She headed for the cockpit and sank down in the pilot’s chair. She exhaled slowly and put her hands over her face, trying to compose herself.   
She was so close to breaking down, all she needed was one more tiny push and she would fly over that edge, shatter into a million fragments she would never be able to piece together again.   
Suddenly she felt that familiar tug. One she hadn’t experienced in a while. The one that sent goosebumps along her skin and tingles down her spine. Her breath caught in her chest and she was afraid to look up, knowing what she would find if she did.  
“Rey?”  
His voice sounded gruff, a slight tremor in it, as if he couldn’t believe this was happening. He sounded in awe…  
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block the sensation.   
“Go away.” She said on the beginning of a sob. “Just go away. I can’t take this now.”  
He kept quiet, but she felt his presence linger. His aura stayed with her, familiar and frustratingly welcome, like a balm to her aching soul.   
He spoke up softly, as if trying not to intrude on her need for solitude.   
“I wish I could. But you know how unpredictable these things are.”  
His voice, that deep masculine rumble, sent delicious sparks along her nerve endings. The memory of their hands touching, of the feeling of his large, calloused fingers caressing hers drove her mad and broke her heart all over again.  
She looked up over her shoulder then and saw him standing there, a few feet from her.   
He was obviously troubled, perhaps even as much as she was. The notion gave her a semblance of satisfaction, that somehow, maybe, he wasn’t as completely lost as she perceived him to be. _  
No. That’s just a mirage. Your eyes deceive you…_ her mind screamed.   
After Crait, everything had been blown to smithereens.   
Her Ben had been turned back into Kylo Ren, and he had stepped up to his role with the same determination as a starving man at an all-you-can-eat-buffet. He had been cruel, vindictive, vengeful without remorse since. Hunting down the Resistance, pursuing everyone who was even remotely affiliated with them.   
The man she had connected with on such a deep level, the man she had risked everything for, the man she had fought with and fought for, turned back into that monster she detested.   
And still…   
Still, she could not forget him. Whenever she was alone, especially in that tiny sliver of a timeslot between laying down on her cot and finding blissful rest, the memory of what they’d almost had taunted her.   
“You must feel amazing right now.” She said, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice.   
He pursed his lips, as she had seen him do countless times before. But other than that, he did not acknowledge her words at all.   
“Well, you may just get what you wanted all along.” She continued harshly, not a single warm emotion showing.   
“We might very well lose the battle today. You will have defeated the Resistance, ended the war and killed the last Jedi. That’s quite the checklist, isn’t it?”  
He chortled without merit.   
She narrowed her eyes at him at the sound.  
“You can laugh all you want, _Kylo Ren,”_ she spat and earned a sharp look from him. She still continued in the same harsh tone. “but you will _never_ kill what we stand for! The people _will always_ find a way to stand up against you, against the First Order and against tyranny. They will fight for justice and peace until the end of time!”  
Her eyes were flashing, glittering bright with unshed tears, a deep flush high on her cheeks.    
“Ah Rey…” he said slowly as he studied his boots, “Still that fiery spit of hope…”  
She stilled at the memory, of those words being spoken in another time, another place.   
_You have the spirit of a true Jedi. And because of that you must die ...  
_ He looked up at her then, and he seemed… sad.   
Vulnerable.  
_Hurt._  
She frowned at him.   
Again, he pursed his lips. He frowned back at her.   
“If that is what you believe, then you know nothing about me.”  
She immediately felt the need to get defensive.   
“You’re absolutely right.” She bit out.   
“I thought I did. But in the end, everything I believed in turned out to be wrong. All of it.”  
She couldn’t hide the hurt from her eyes, and neither could he.   
He took a few steps closer. When only a few inches separated them, he stopped.   
A single tear fell from her eye. He lifted his hand as if to touch her face and wipe it off, then visibly hesitated and then dropped it at his side again.   
She was stunned by her own reaction.   
She felt robbed. Robbed of his attention, of his touch, as if the simple gesture denied her his affection… It was silly and crazy, but she felt it nonetheless. Another tear escaped.   
Another pursing of his lips as he stared into her eyes with the intensity she had unwittingly linked to him alone.   
“Not all of it.” He whispered roughly.   
He seemed shocked that the words had escaped his lips. He frowned slightly.   
“Believe it or not, but I didn’t want it to have to come to this.”  
Her mouth trembled.   
“Liar.” She said on a broken sob. “If I offered you a chance at peace now, you would not take it. You would not stop this war. Not until every one of us is dead.”  
He tilted his head and regarded her quizzically.   
“And you would never offer me that chance, not for the life of you. Does that not make you a hypocrite?” he whispered.   
She gasped. Her eyes widened and she fought the urge to slap him.   
He shifted, closing the little distance between them. They were so close now their clothing brushed and their breaths mingled when she tilted her head even more to stare up at him.   
“I dare you, Rey.” He murmured with that feral clenching of his teeth she knew so well.   
“I dare you to offer me peace on the battlefield.”  
Irritation flashed in her hazel eyes.   
“I might give it a try, to see if a dimwitted moolfmilker like you is brave enough to take it.”  
She watched as a spark of recognition showed in his dark eyes at the sound of the expletive. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized that the term “moolfmilker” must have been a word inherent to Han.   
Determination shone in those black depths as he narrowed his eyes at her.   
“No, Rey.” he started in that decisive tone of his. “I will put it in the words of one of the wisest Jedi there ever was.” He said with determination, knowing she was eager for any crumb of the Jedi religion she could get.   
“Do or do not,” he continued his voice soft as a caress, “there is no try.”  
She frowned again, her mouth opening with an exasperated exhale.   
His gaze dropped to her lips, hungry and forlorn at the same time.   
“What is that supposed to mean? And who talks like that, anyway?” she sputtered.   
His eyes bore into hers again, all trace of emotion gone as he straightened and took half a step back.   
“Surely Luke spoke to you of his old mentor? Grand Master Yoda was quite the legend…”  
The name rang a bell, but she couldn’t remember why.   
“What Master Skywalker spoke of to me, is none of your concern.” She said with a tilt of her chin.   
“And now I want you gone.”  
His eyes were still devoid of any emotion, but the muscle near his mouth and nose ticked.   
He snorted softly, staring at her.   
“I’ll see you on the battlefield then, Scavenger.”  
She narrowed her eyes at him and tried to calm the anger in her chest.   
“Get out.” She snarled, and with every ounce of determination and grit she had in her, she gave his presence a great big shove.   
It worked.   
She found herself back in the cockpit of the Falcon, blissfully alone.   
Why then, did she feel so lonely all of a sudden?   
Why, even when they were at odds, did she feel so much more alive when he was with her?   
Why did she feel like a part of her was missing now?   
She sank to her knees and covered her eyes with her hands.   
She would allow herself to cry just this once.   
And when she was done, she would get up and face him again.   
And fight for everything she stood for.   
But for now, she wept.  
It was not long after that she found her spunk again.   
She was even more determined to show the Supreme Leader that he had as much chance of winning against the Hope of the Resistance than he had of finding an oasis on Jakku.   
They would win. Even when they lost, they would win. Hope was frail, but resilient.   
And they would prove that today on the battlefield.   
But his words haunted her.   
_Do or do not, there is no try.  
_ Such an odd phrase. It encompassed so many things.   
And why in the Galaxy would he quote a Jedi? A Grand Master, no less? He had no use for them, he had said so many times before. So to quote them now, was strange. And that was an understatement.   
_Perhaps he still has Light in him?  
_ The thought alone made her tremble. Because after the things he had done and had ordered since Crait, that would be the biggest surprise in the Universe.   
Still… She knew this man. Or rather, she had known him. She had connected with him on a level that surpassed the superficial or even the underlying layers. She had glimpsed at his very soul and had been granted access to a fuller view later on. He was a deeply conflicted man. He had been through pain and suffering and disappointment. Lots and lots of disappointment. Time after time, the people he had cared for had let him down.   
_And so did I.  
_ The thought came out of nowhere. If she hadn’t been surrounded by her fellow Resistance Fighters, it would have been all too easy to crumple on the floor _– again!_ – and weep.   
The realization that she had disappointed Ben – not Kylo Ren but Ben Solo – was enough to make her feel distraught.   
Poe, Finn, Rose and Chewbacca walked over to her and together they walked out onto the battlefield.   
They were perched on the top of a small rise, hardly worthy of being called a hill. The terrain sloped slightly and gave them an unperturbed view of the large meadow in front of them.   
Legion after legion of Storm Troopers were standing there, on the other side of that field, with rows of the latest AT-AT’s behind them and no doubt they would be supported by an entire fleet of TIE-fighters and other big guns.   
Rey felt a tiny ripple of fear trickle down her spine, but she tried to ignore it.   
Luke had taught her that fear was dangerous. It clouded the mind, heightened certain senses and dulled the natural way of responding to them. Fear was pointless. And it was a dearly valued weapon to the enemy across from them.   
She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders.   
She had her staff and her new lightsaber, a double-bladed piece of excellent craftsmanship if she said so herself.   
They would all fight until their last breath.   
Rey closed her eyes and tried to meditate, to find her center, to find the Force and allow it to fill her.   
It worked like a charm. A familiar peace wrapped itself around her and a beautiful energy filled her heart and soul.   
There was a brilliant aura of…   
_Ben.  
_ Her eyes flew open and her jaw fell as she watched in absolute shock how the Supreme Leader himself stepped out in the field.   
She knew instinctively what he was doing, and it was confirmed as he ignited his lightsaber, twirled it in that signature move of his and then motioned in her direction.   
He was truly challenging her!   
She felt a strange mix of sensations course through her at his actions.   
Rey felt anger at his arrogance, but also a strange sort of delight that he would actually try to get her to take him on. That he would pursue her like this. She felt excitement and tension and apprehension and…   
_No!_  
She forced that last thought from her mind as she exhaled angrily.   
“Very well, if this is how the game is played…” she murmured as she stepped forward.  
A hand clamped down on her arm and she whirled to see who it was.   
Finn was frowning at her.   
“Rey, what are you doing?” he asked, confusion clear in his features. A little anxiety mixed in for good measure.   
“I know what I’m doing, Finn.” She said softly. She removed his hand from her wrist and smiled at him.   
“This is something I have to do.”  
“Rey…” he started, but she was quick to interject.   
“I’ll be back before you know it.” She touched his face gently and then regarded Poe and Rose and Chewie with equal amounts of affection. Then simply turned around and started walking.   
The closer she got, the larger his physique loomed over her.   
She knew he was tall, but he seemed larger than life to her now somehow.   
She swallowed and stopped five feet from him.   
Rey stared up at Kylo Ren and they held a silent staring match for a moment or two. Sizing each other up. Trying to figure out what to do next.   
It was the first time she had seen him in the flesh since after the Throne Fight. And she wasn’t prepared for how her body and her heart responded to him.   
The memory of how perfectly they had been in sync in that moment, of how gentle he had been with her, how passionately he had tried to convince her to join him… The memory of how his eyes had caressed her, how he had gazed into hers with so much affection and… trust.   
She pushed the thought from her mind, but as her eyes met his, she knew he knew. And he was thinking the same.   
He cocked an eyebrow at her and spoke in that deep voice of his.   
“We meet again, _Scavenger_.” His eyes roamed her body up and down, much like he had in the forest on Takodana.   
“Or should I call you _Jedi_ now?”  
Was that affection she heard in his voice? What she saw in his eyes?   
Definitely a challenge glittering in those depths.   
The red glow from his lightsaber made them seem warmer, their color more a deep chocolate brown instead of the black it so often portrayed.   
“I don’t think it matters much what you call me.” Rey responded calmly.   
The slightest of smiles played with the corners of his mouth.   
With a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, he twirled his lightsaber around for show.   
“I would prefer to have some endearment for you…” His voice trailed off and his gaze dropped to her lips for the slightest of seconds.   
“Shall I call you Sweetheart, then?”  
That made her smile.   
“Only if I get to call you Monster…” she said with the beginnings of a chuckle lacing her voice.   
She could not keep a slight semblance of affection from it either. She knew this man once. Knew how it both annoyed and excited him to be called a monster. She knew it would have a disarming effect on him.   
His eyes widened at her words. He swallowed at the sight of her smile, directed at him. Only him. And how he wished they did not have an army on each side.    
She unclipped her lightsaber and thumbed it to life.   
His eyes bulged at the unlikely sight before him.   
Rey had constructed her own lightsaber! This scrapper, this Scavenger of his had figured out how to do it all on her own. And what a beauty it was. Not that it was much of a surprise to him. She always managed to figure things out on her own and make the best of things with the means at her disposal.   
A double-bladed lightsaber, construed with what seemed like salvaged parts again did not surprise him in the least. She preferred her staff over a sword anyway, he felt that on an instinctive level.   
But the blades were what surprised him the most.   
Because at one end of that lightsaber shone a bright blue blade and on the other end… a perfect bright red one!  
His breath caught in his throat as his gaze flew from her weapon to her face.   
He swallowed visibly and his eyes…   
Sweet Maker, but those eyes would be her downfall one day.   
_You opened yourself to the Dark Side for a pair of pretty eyes!_  
Luke’s words rung in her ears, but they only stung because they were true.   
Said eyes were watching her with a mixture of pride and absolute adoration right now. And it was confusing.   
“You’re awfully quiet, Supreme Leader…” she spoke softly, trying to remain unaffected by that handsome face.   
He had what one might call a soft face. Every emotion was clearly portrayed. He would not be able to bluff his way through anything unless he _really_ made an effort.   
And the way he was staring at her right now…   
She twirled her lightsaber lazily to distract herself from losing herself all over again.  
“Have you lost your tongue?” She said with a tilt of her head.   
He drew in a deep breath and straightened.   
“Impressive.” He said quietly. “Must have been hard on your own.”  
Again, she smiled. Her eyebrow lifted.   
“Who said I did it on my own?”   
A slight frown creased his brow as he contemplated that.   
Who in the Galaxy would have been able to help her construct her lightsaber? It was something only Jedi knew how to do. And she was the last one…   
He snorted slightly and looked away briefly.   
Towards her end of the Battlefield, where her friends were watching them with trepidation.   
When his gaze connected to hers again, she felt it all the way down to her toes.   
“What will it be, Rey?”  
His low voice sent shivers down her spine. Every nerve ending fizzled with energy.   
She swallowed.   
He took a small step in her direction, and then another, and another. She refused to move.   
The sentiments of her friends in the Resistance washed over her as he closed the distance between them.   
They were anxious, nervous, scared. Worried that she might be hurt, that Kylo Ren would harm her, that they would engage in close combat and she would somehow not be able to defeat him this time.   
But she ignored them. How could she not? All of her senses were drawn in by this big, brooding hunk of man in front of her.   
Soon he was so close she could feel the heat emanating from his body, could smell the scent of his cologne and that earthy, musky smell that was his alone. A heady combination that made her want to close her eyes and lean in. To wrap her arms around him and hold him and never let go.   
She merely took a deep fortifying breath and tilted her head back to stare into his face.   
He was so close!   
She couldn’t help the trembling that came over her. But even as she fought herself, she held his gaze.   
His dark eyes caressed her face, and now there was no denying the affection there.   
This was not Kylo before her.   
It was Ben. Her Ben. The Ben she had fallen in love with.   
_My Ben…_   
“Ben?”  
Her voice sounded like a gritty whisper, hoarse and breathless.   
He swallowed hard and pursed his lips.   
“I did not want it to come to this, Rey. You know that. I have offered you the Galaxy before. You refused.”  
He searched her eyes, his gaze shifting continuously, trying to find something in her hazel depths that even remotely resembled what he felt for her.   
“It’s your turn now. Your move. This whole matter can be resolved.” He said softly. He closed his eyes briefly, taking in another deep breath, trying to compose himself. No one would be able to see it from where they stood, not even with binoculars.   
When he opened them again, she saw his guarded expression.   
“Do or do not, there is no try.” He whispered.   
And she felt it.   
Rey felt his despair. His desire to end it. His weariness and his fatigue. But most of all, she felt his loneliness.   
It matched her own.   
“What will happen if I do?” she whispered back.   
“If I extend my hand to you? What will happen?” She said on a broken sigh.   
“We cannot pretend this never happened, Ben. That you didn’t hunt us down, that we haven’t tried to overthrow you. We cannot ignore this.”  
His expression grew colder and more distant with every word she spoke.   
She lowered her face, studied her boots for a moment. Her toes were practically touching his.   
They were so close!   
“If you can promise me that things will change, if you are willing to stop this tyranny…”   
She looked up at him again, imploring him to listen. She took a deep breath and spoke with conviction and determination.  
“If you agree to relinquish your vise-like grip on the Galaxy, to set the people free, to not take small children from their families, to not pursue anyone who disagrees with your way of thinking, to no longer force your own version of the truth upon them…”  
She swallowed, overcome with emotion. Tears welled up and spilled down her cheeks.   
“The Galaxy deserves peace, but not the way you want to bring it. Too many people have already suffered. If you can assure me of that, I will extend my hand to you. If you swear it, I will offer a cease-fire.”  
He regarded her calmly, pensively.   
The silence between them stretched, almost uncomfortably so.   
After what felt like hours, but would have only been a minute or so, he spoke.   
“I agree to your terms. On one condition…” his voice was a deep, low, vibrating rumble in his chest.   
The intimacy in that tone was weaving a spell on her mind and her heart.   
“And that would be?” she managed to choke out.   
He pursed his mouth again, in that telling way she adored.   
“You will join me.” He clipped.   
Her mouth fell open and she frowned ever so slightly.   
“What?”  
He leaned even closer, lowering his face a little more.   
“You will join me.” He murmured.   
“You will become my partner, my right hand and my Queen.” He whispered. “Only if you can agree to that, I will comply to your every wish.”  
Shock was clearly visible in her delicate features.   
“You…” she started haltingly.   
“You want me to…” her eyebrows drew together in a tight frown as she spoke the words hesitantly. “To be your Queen?”  
He sighed, his breath making the hair at her temples flutter.   
“Oh Rey… Don’t you see?” he whispered with a tortured expression.   
“That was what I saw when we touched hands. What I saw in my visions, even before we ever met. Have you never wondered why I took you when we met on Takodana?”   
The surprise in her eyes would have been funny under different circumstances. He let out a trembling breath again.   
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted, Rey. When we defeated the Praetorians…” His voice trailed off and he searched for composure once more.   
“I thought you understood. I thought you would join me, because it’s what I saw. I never thought you’d refuse me…”   
He looked at her and she felt his misery.   
“Instead you turned on me and I didn’t know how to react. I’ve never felt so much pain in my life as when I woke up and you were gone…”  
“Ben…” she whispered as more tears slipped down her cheeks.   
“I wanted to stay. But I could not let my friends die.”   
She studied his face. This beautiful, expressive, sensitive face, made up of features of the man and the woman she had loved dearly. Who had felt like family to her, more parental than the parents she barely remembered. And she loved him.   
She drew a deep breath.   
“I still can’t.” she whispered with desperation gleaming in her eyes.   
That same desperation glinted in those onyx eyes staring back at her.   
“Then let’s end this. Now.”  
She watched in absolute shock as he thumbed off his lightsaber, clicked it back unto his belt and took his glove off.   
He did not extend his hand first, though.   
And she knew that this time, it would have to be her choice.   
She swallowed and took a deep breath, as she too thumbed off her lightsaber.   
She could feel the shock from both sides of the battlefield as she clipped it on her belt.   
Her breath came in short bursts as she stared into his eyes. His were full of anticipation and apprehension, as if he was excited they were about to touch again but scared that she would turn on him again.   
But his eyes were honest.   
And in the end, that was all it took.   
“Promise?” she whispered as she extended her hand.   
His sharp intake of breath and the relief that flooded his features made her insides calm down. She knew instinctively that she had made the right decision.   
“I promise. Anything you ask, it will be yours.” He said as he wrapped his hand around hers, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.   
“My Queen. My Rey…” he whispered as he did something that blew her mind.   
He knelt before her in the tall grass and kissed the back of her hand, then rested his forehead against it.   
She wrapped her hands around his head and pulled him close.   
He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her embrace.  
A loud rumble sounded then, and she looked up. Not quite believing the sight that greeted her, she gasped loudly.   
The rumbling was the sound of thousands of Storm Troopers falling to their knees, following their Supreme Leader’s example.   
Across the battlefield, on the other side, they could hear the loud cheering of the Resistance Fighters, who could not contain their joy. The war was over, it seemed. Little did they know that this was not a one-sided triumph. This was a truce, a promise to find a way and a middle ground, no matter how dire things became.   
“Get off your knees, Ben.” She said quietly.   
“You need not bow to me.” She spoke gently as she helped him up.   
“As of this very moment, you will never bow to anyone ever again.”  
He smiled at her, his first true smile in years. It reached his eyes and made his face breathtakingly handsome.   
“Snoke was right.” He whispered, his gaze roaming her features with blatant admiration.   
“Darkness rises, and Light to meet it.” He said as he got off his knees.   
He cupped her face gently and whispered.   
“You will always be the Light that guides me, Rey.” His eyes bore into hers and he feverishly ground out: “Thank you!”  
Rey smiled back at him, mischief glinting in her gaze.   
“What happened to calling me Sweetheart?”  
He grinned and murmured under his breath as he bent down to take her lips.   
“Later…”  
And from that moment, Balance was restored.   
  
The end.


End file.
